President Donald Trump says the U.S. missile attack on a Syrian air base Thursday night was in the nation’s “vital national security interest.”

Trump says the United States must “prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.” He says there is “no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons.”

Trump spoke to reporters after the United States attacked a Syrian air base with roughly 60 cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack it blames on President Bashar Assad.

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9 p.m.

The United States has attacked a Syrian air base with roughly 60 cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack it blames on President Bashar Assad.

U.S. officials say the Tomahawk missiles were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeting a government-controlled air base in Syria.

U.S. officials say Syrian government aircraft killed dozens of civilians by using chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly sarin, earlier this week.

The bombing represents President Donald Trump’s most dramatic military order since taking office. The Obama administration threatened attacking Assad’s forces for previous chemical weapons attacks, but never followed through.